Staff Spotlight: Lauren Green, Teacher of English

When did you join Merchant Taylors'?

September 2022

Tell us about your subject. What excites you about it? How did you get into it?

When I was little, it was easier to read a book than compete with my brother to choose which programme to watch. Once I started reading, I never stopped and even now, an afternoon with a coffee and a good book is one of life’s great luxuries.

Several English teachers book swap pretty regularly, and I have read some wonderful novels this year recommended by friends.

I really believe that words are more important now than ever before and that the study of English is growing more and more vital - not less! The digital age has offered everyone a global platform, where our spoken and written thoughts are permanently recorded, for better or worse. Despite the best of intentions, meaning can be lost or misinterpreted if language is imprecise and ambiguous.

What are you most proud of outside of your work at school?

 I tried very hard at school, but GCSE Maths proved to be my Achilles’ heel. I went to class and did what was asked, and was sure I would muddle through. I hoped for an A, and felt sure it would all work out if I just did the work I was set.

Two months before the GCSEs began, I sat my GCSE Maths mock paper. Fast forward to a fortnight later, and I was trembling at our practice results day (a surprisingly dramatic hour) with a white envelope containing my results. I ripped it open, scanned the data and…. 40% in Maths. Ouch. Something had to change. And fast.

In the next six weeks, I probably worked harder than I had ever worked before. I completed past paper after past paper, read examiner’s reports, attended Maths Clinic, asked my teacher for extra Maths Clinic (thanks again Mr Shackleton) and, in a particularly desperate moment, spent £5 a pop on custom practice papers on specific topics. Circle theorems needed that little bit of extra attention.

Time passed and Paper 1 rolled around. I took my seat, picked up my pen, and began.

Something strange happened. I didn’t run out of time. I understood what was asked, and I offered a plausible answer to most of the questions. I began to feel confident, and Paper 2 proved it wasn’t a fluke. By the halfway point, I was feeling sky-high, and as I turned to my usual foil (the final big mark question), I was cooking*. I retired my calculator with more confidence than I had ever had before.

A swelteringly hot August arrived, and with it came real results day. I was nervous. I wanted that A, and had turned myself inside out to achieve it.

I opened the envelope and scanned the list. A*. Breathless and tired, I had flung myself across the boundary by one beautiful UMS point. At sixteen, it was my greatest victory yet.

* I later discovered I still got this question wrong. Alas.

What did you study at A-Level?

English Literature, History, Classical Civilisation and Biology (AS Level)

What piece of media would you recommend and why?

I regularly recommend Jaws the novel (written by Peter Benchley). Whilst the Spielberg film is excellent, the novel is better again and it is categorically one of the best book to film adaptations of all time. Benchley has since claimed the shark-fear that his story sparked is one of his greatest regrets in life.

In the five or so years I have been recommending Jaws, I don’t think anyone has gone away and read it. I’ll keep trying…